How to Watch: Dalton Knecht's NBA Summer League debut with the Lakers
Dalton Knecht and Santiago Vescovi will make their NBA debuts Saturday in the California Classic, kicking off the NBA’s Summer League. Knecht’s game is at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN with Vescovi’s game to follow at 6:30 on ESPN.
Knecht was the No. 17 overall pick in the NBA Draft, selected in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers. Vescovi went undrafted, before earning a spot on the Golden State Warriors Summer League Roster.
Josiah-Jordan James also went undrafted but signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indianapolis Pacers. The Pacers are scheduled to play their first Summer League game on Friday.
Knecht and the Lakers face the Sacramento Kings at 4:30 at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Vescovi and the Warriors face the Miami Heat in the second game.
How To Watch: Lakers vs. Kings, Warriors vs. Heat
Start Time: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 6:30 p.m .ET
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN App or WatchESPN.com
Dalton Knecht signs four-year rookie contract with Lakers
It was reported on Wednesday that Knecht had signed his rookie contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal, according to Spotrac, is worth $18.4 million over four years, with $7.8 million guaranteed at signing.
The average salary for the contract is $4.6 million. According to Spotrac, Knecht will make $3.8 million as a rookie in 2024-25, then $4.01 million in 2025-26. The third and fourth years of the deal includes club options, with Knecht set to make $4.2 million in 2026-27 and $6.4 million 2027-28.
The 6-foot-6, 213-pound Knecht in his only season at Tennessee was a consensus First Team All-American and the SEC Player of the Year after averaging 21.7 points per game and 25.5 points in SEC play.
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Santiago Vescovi trying to ‘show who I am’ in Summer League
Vescovi started a Tennessee record 144 games (out of 149 career games) over the last five seasons. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists with the Vols, shooting 39.2% from the field and 37.2% from the 3-point line.
His numbers dropped to 6.3 points per game last season, shooting a career-low 36.8% from the field and 32.6% from three.
Vescovi had a pre-draft workout with Golden State, helping lead to the Summer League opportunity.
“What I’m trying to do at this point,” Vescovi said last week, “is just pretty much show who I am. I think like a lot of teams have a lot of film on me and everything. They know everything about everybody pretty much.
“But just being able to show again who I really am, just be a good teammate, have fun with the guys that we’re going to play with. And I think I’m a winner to be honest. I think that’s one of the biggest things. Being able to win a lot of games is going to matter and just helping every single way I can to that winning.”
